


of canaries and milkshakes

by minachandler



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Episode: s08e04 Present Tense, F/F, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-08
Updated: 2019-11-08
Packaged: 2021-01-25 16:53:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21359506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/minachandler/pseuds/minachandler
Summary: Missing scene from the end of 8x04. Over fries and milkshakes, Dinah and Laurel talk about their future.
Relationships: Dinah Drake/Earth-2 Laurel Lance
Comments: 15
Kudos: 113





	of canaries and milkshakes

**Author's Note:**

> Many thanks to Laurie for the encouragement, and for the title.

"Captain, am I interrupting anything important?"

Dinah didn't even realise she was smiling at the sound of a now familiar voice, until she looked up, and her smile only widened when she saw Laurel was there with two bags of Big Belly Burger.

"Not when there's burgers involved."

"And milkshakes," Laurel added. "Figured you'd have your hands full with this whole -" She gestured randomly, and Dinah sat back in her chair and folded her arms.

"Time travelling, supervillains, Oliver having a daughter -"

"I mean," Laurel said as she set the bags on Dinah's desk and pulled up a chair opposite her, "I knew about that part. I just expected her to be more baby-faced, I guess."

At this, Dinah did a double take. "You knew Felicity was pregnant?"

"She actually told me before she told Oliver," Laurel admitted. "But no one was supposed to know. And this kid who was literally just a foetus to me is now a fully grown woman capable of kicking her dad's ass. It's a lot. Even for me."

She went quiet for a minute and Dinah didn't push her, instead holding out her hand so Laurel could pass her one of the bags. It was only when she was midway through her burger that Dinah spoke.

"So why are you here?"

Instantly she regretted her words - she expected to see a flash of anger in the eyes she had grown to know so well, or annoyance or exasperation. But instead, all Dinah could see was hurt, in the way Laurel tore her gaze away.

"I already told you -"

"I'm sorry, Laurel," Dinah said softly.

Laurel shifted uncomfortably in her chair. "For what?"

"You know what. And I know there's nothing I can do or say to make things any easier - but I want you to know that I'm here for you."

"Thank you," Laurel said, still staring determinedly at her fries.

"So," Dinah said, a tad hurriedly now in an effort to paper over the awkwardness, "what did you think of what Mia said? About us in the future?"

At this, Laurel looked up, and between them passed an understanding - of wounds too raw to attend to, of words that for right now were better left unsaid. And sure enough, when Laurel spoke, it was with no acknowledgement of the direction their conversation had been teetering into.

"Don't get me wrong," Laurel said slowly, laying out a napkin and then unearthing the fries, which fell into a small heap of greasy potato as she tipped the paper bag upside down. "I love the idea of a network of Canaries. I just - sometimes, when I put that mask on, I feel a bit like -"

"- a fraud?"

"You think that too?" Laurel said, and her tone wasn't incredulity, more resigned acceptance. Another thing that Dinah didn't see coming.

"About you? Not in the slightest," Dinah said firmly.

"I'm pretty sure you would have had a different answer to that question a couple years ago."

"But like I kept telling John and Rene - it's not about the past or the future. All you've got is what you have right now. And right now, on the front lines in Star City? There's no one I'd rather protect it with than you."

"God, stop being so nice to me - it's weirding me out," Laurel said, but it was with a smile, and Dinah smiled too. "What did you mean, about me?"

"What?"

"You said you didn't think that _I _was a fraud. Are you saying you have some doppelganger who's more of a do-gooder than you? Because, uh, I think that's hard to top."

Dinah laughed. "No, not like that. But I remember when Oliver first asked me to step into Laurel's shoes - this earth's Laurel. You probably don't know how much of a bad place I was in at the time."

"I'm pretty sure I can get a vague idea," Laurel said guiltily, and with a pang Dinah remembered the loss that had driven her was one Laurel herself had made permanent. Dinah knew Laurel was about to apologise, again, but Dinah shook her head.

"Don't. Please."

Again - a moment of quiet understanding, as they agreed not to talk about what would probably always be between them. Laurel looked away to take a sip of her milkshake. After a moment, Dinah did the same.

Laurel coughed. "Uh, so you were saying?"

Sighing, Dinah continued, "Yeah. Well, it took me a long time before I felt okay using Laurel's code name… taking on this mantle of hers. And all that time I wondered if maybe I was a fake. That I couldn't live up to who that Laurel was. I had dropped bodies before. Collateral damage. And I - I didn't feel like I was a hero the way she was. Not at first. So I do get it."

"I thought I was done with that too," Laurel said. "But those kids coming here and telling us this from the future - it made me think about… if I'm worthy. Like it's one thing to put on a mask and a bit of leather and kick someone's ass - it's another to put together a group. I mean - we must have trained them. The two of us. Been their role models. Mentors.”

"And you don't think that's you?"

"I know it isn't," Laurel said simply. "You, you're - different. You care. You act from the heart. Me -"

"Sweetie, you're not fooling anyone if you still expect everyone to think you're heartless."

To her surprise Laurel laughed. "No. I know I have one. You reminded me of that, actually. But it's not Laurel's. Not this earth's, anyway. And I was finally beginning to accept that - on my earth, I was the Black Canary. That was it. I had a place where I belonged for the first time. Now I'm back here and I wonder… if that's who I'm supposed to be. That world - it was my world. It needed me. And I couldn't save it."

In silence Dinah took this in, and for several moments there was quiet, except for the sound of rustling and the two of them eating their fries.

"Wanna know how I got over the whole fraud thing?" Dinah said eventually. Laurel looked up, raising her eyebrows in question. "It was when Oliver passed the hood to John. Right around the time I was getting used to a new suit, new codename, new team."

Laurel's forehead creased a little in confusion. "I don't follow."

For the first time Dinah hesitated. Then, taking a deep breath, she reached over and covered Laurel's hand with her own. Dinah expected Laurel to flinch at her touch, to slap her hand away, to break eye contact in embarrassment.

But Laurel did none of those things. Instead she held Dinah's gaze steadily, unsurprised, expectant, so Dinah soldiered on.

"No two people are interchangeable. Just because they have something in common - a name, or a face, or some metahuman ability - none of that makes you someone who can just be replaced. Laurel Lance, this earth's Laurel, wasn't someone who wanted another Canary to replace her."

"Isn't that what I've done, though? I've impersonated her, had what would have been her dream job, and now I'm wearing her mask. What about that screams 'hero' to you?"

"Okay. Let me try that again. No two _heroes _are interchangeable. And certainly no two women. And we're not meant to be. I think what Laurel wanted was for others to find strength in the Canary mantle the way she did. And that's what we've done. Both of us - we've loved and lost. And we're stronger for it."

Laurel didn't say anything. For a few moments she was completely silent - and then she squeezed Dinah's hand, ever so briefly, before reaching for her fries.

"Okay, so if we're going to do this whole - Canary network thing, you gotta do the speeches. Clearly you’re better at those. Deal?"

Dinah didn't hesitate. "Deal," she said with a smile, stuffing several fries in her mouth at once. "God. I'm gonna have to work out extra hard after this." Laurel rolled her eyes at that, and Dinah held up a fry to inspect it. "This is so oily. Why do I love this shit so much?"

"Dip it in your milkshake," Laurel said before taking a sip of her own.

Dinah wrinkled her nose. "Then I'll have an oily milkshake."

"Fine," Laurel said, putting down her own shake. "Dip it in mine."

"What?"

Laurel gestured at her shake, then Dinah's fries, then back at her shake. "Come on. Be adventurous for once, Dinah. I'm even heroically sacrificing my milkshake for you."

Dinah shook her head, unable to shake off her smile for the life of her. "Fine. But just know I'm never gonna be nice to you again, okay?"

"Good. I need some normalcy right now. God knows I can’t hold on to much right now."

"You've always got me," Dinah said quietly, and Laurel got that look on her face, the one she had when she didn't know what to say after a few words of kindness. Thankfully though, they were distracted as Dinah popped the fry in her mouth. "Oh my god."

"Good, huh?"

"Gross. How could you voluntarily eat that?"

"You're just saying that because you wouldn't know good food if it screamed in your face."

And after that their collective worries dissolved, at least temporarily, lost in their now good-natured bickering as they finished their food. It wasn't going to last, but Dinah was at ease, and with a start she realised it was the first time she felt that way since Laurel left for earth-2.

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't written anything in a while, so I apologise if I'm rusty. But if you enjoyed this, please take the time to leave a comment. I thrive on feedback and would love to hear what you think!


End file.
